Israel links pullback to missile defense

JERUSALEM - Israel won't be able to carry out a major West Bank pullback for 21/2 years because it first needs a missile-defense system in place to protect it against Palestinian rocket fire, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

Barak's timetable - announced a day before a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and amid preparations for U.S.-sponsored peace talks in the fall - cast doubt on chances of a quick breakthrough in stalled Mideast peacemaking.

A former prime minister whose term in office from 1999 to 2001 was marked by unsuccessful attempts to make peace with Syria and the Palestinians, Barak has taken a hard line on security since becoming defense minister in June, as he positions himself for another race for the top office.

"The things we see in Gaza do not allow us to change our actions in [the West Bank]," Barak was quoted as saying, referring to daily rocket fire at Israel from Gaza by Palestinian extremists. He said it would take about 21/2 years to develop and deploy a system to protect Israel's center from potential rocket attacks from the West Bank.

Barak made the statement at a meeting of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to a participant. Coming ahead of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem today, it drew fire from Palestinian officials.

"I find it very hard to comprehend such statements when the prime minister and the Palestinian president are doing their best" to achieve a peace accord, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

Extremists have launched thousands of rockets into southern Israel from Gaza in the last seven years of fighting, killing 12 Israelis, according to Israeli military figures. The fire did not decrease after Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza two years ago. Because rockets from the West Bank could threaten the country's population centers and paralyze its only airport, outside Tel Aviv, a missile-defense system has become a central Israeli condition for a withdrawal.

Israel now has in place around Gaza only an early-warning system that gives residents a few seconds' notice before the rocket hits.

Also at yesterday's meeting, Barak would not commit to removing roadblocks in the West Bank, saying his "primary commitment" was to protecting Israelis. Barak said only that army officers were studying the matter. The Palestinians say the checkpoints strangle their economy.